International Travel Insurance

If you're travelling within the UK you probably don't need insurance, but if you're travelling abroad then international travel insurance is a good idea. It covers you for everything from delays and cancellations to more serious things such as hijacking, kidnapping and muggings, and while even the most unlucky traveller isn't likely to need such cover you're also protected against more likely occurrences such as losing your passport.

When you're buying international travel insurance the premium will depend on where you're going. Most insurers split the world into several parts: Europe, which normally includes the Canary Islands and non-European Mediterranean countries; the US and Canada; Australia and New Zealand; and the rest of the world.

One thing to watch with international travel insurance policies is that some insurers won't cover certain countries at all: for example, at the moment you'll find it difficult to get cover for the Middle East, so that budget holiday in Baghdad is probably a bad idea.

Getting internation travel insurance is simple enough: simply head for the site of an insurer, from cheap firms such as Insure & Go to more established names such as Direct Line. Enter a few details, tell the site where you're planning to go, and the site will tell you how much your premium will cost.